Microbial processing of plant remains is co-limited by multiple nutrients in global grasslands

Ochoa‐Hueso, Raúl; Borer, Elizabeth T.; Seabloom, Eric W.; Hobbie, Sarah E.; Risch, Anita C.; Collins, Scott L.; Alberti, Juan; Bahamonde, Héctor A.; Brown, Cynthia S.; Caldeira, Maria C.; Daleo, Pedro; Dickman, Chris R.; Ebeling, Anne; Eisenhauer, Nico; Esch, Ellen H.; Eskelinen, Anu; Fernández, Victoria; Güsewell, Sabine; Gutierrez‐Larruga, Blanca; Hofmockel, Kirsten S.; Laungani, Ramesh; Lind, Eric; López, Andrea; McCulley, Rebecca L.; Moore, Joslin L.; Peri, Pablo L.; Power, Sally A.; Price, Jodi N.; Prober, Suzanne M.; Roscher, Christiane; Sarneel, Judith M.; Schütz, Martin; Siebert, Julia; Standish, Rachel J.; Velasco Ayuso, Sergio; Virtanen, Risto; Wardle, Glenda M.; Wiehl, Georg; Yahdjian, Laura; Zamin, Tara

doi:10.1111/gcb.15146

Title: Microbial processing of plant remains is co-limited by multiple nutrients in global grasslands

Journal Article · 09 June 2020 · Global Change Biology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15146 · OSTI ID:1737816

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University of Cádiz (Spain)
Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf (Switzerland)
Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Mar del Plata (Argentina)
Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral (UNPA)‐CONICET Rio Gallegos Argentina
Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
Univ. of Lisbon (Portugal)
Univ. of Sydney, NSW (Australia)
Friedrich‐Schiller‐University, Jena (Germany)
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) (Germany); Leipzig University (Germany)
Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph ON Canada
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) (Germany); Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig (Germany); University of Oulu (Finland)
Technical University of Madrid (Spain)
Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zurich (Switzerland)
Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain)
Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Doane University, Crete, NE (United States)
Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States)
Monash Univ., Melbourne, VIC (Australia)
Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral (UNPA)‐CONICET, Rio Gallegos (Argentina)
Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW (Australia)
Society Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW (Australia)
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Wembley, WA (Australia)
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) (Germany); University of Oulu (Finland)
Umea Univ. (Sweden)
Murdoch Univ., WA (Australia)
Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Microbial processing of aggregate-unprotected organic matter inputs is key for soil fertility, long-term ecosystem carbon and nutrient sequestration and sustainable agriculture. In this work, we investigated the effects of adding multiple nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium plus nine essential macro- and micro-nutrients) on decomposition and biochemical transformation of standard plant materials buried in 21 grasslands from four continents. Addition of multiple nutrients weakly but consistently increased decomposition and biochemical transformation of plant remains during the peak-season, concurrent with changes in microbial exoenzymatic activity. Higher mean annual precipitation and lower mean annual temperature were the main climatic drivers of higher decomposition rates, while biochemical transformation of plant remains was negatively related to temperature of the wettest quarter. Nutrients enhanced decomposition most at cool, high rainfall sites, indicating that in a warmer and drier future fertilized grassland soils will have an even more limited potential for microbial processing of plant remains.

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Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICIU); Colorado Agricultural Research Station; Swedish Research Council (VR); German Research Foundation (DFG)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 1737816

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-155207

Journal Information:: Global Change Biology, Journal Name: Global Change Biology Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 26; ISSN 1354-1013

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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